5 Sci-Fi Television Series that deserve a Reboot.

Being a fan of Sci-Fi television, I'm always on the lookout for new content to check out on the tube. There's a ton of really good (and not-so good) science fiction out there for consumption right now, and COVID-19 is ensuring that the greater American public is. Whether it's indie producers doing content for youtube and other smaller online platforms, or mainstream TV and streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and the like, There's a ton of great new sci-fi content to go around. Krypton, Killjoys, The Expanse, all of the Star Trek projects CBS all-access has on lockdown, etc. There's simply a great selection of stuff out there to choose from.

That being said, there are some sci-fi tv series from year's past that not only would translate to today's vast sci-fi content landscape on TV, but would be absolutely GREAT television if the right folks re-imagined those worlds and stories the right way. Here are 5 series that had a great run (or had a really good pilot season) that would be a blast to see re-envisioned.

1) Babylon 5

In my humble opinion, Babylon 5 is one of the best non-Star Trek series ever made. LOTS of layers, lots of colorful characters, and tons of themes that directly correlate to real world issues that people deal with on a daily basis. From political intrigue, themes of totalitarianism, corruption and ethnic conflict to straight up knife fights, Babylon 5's story arcs challenged the imagination of viewers and kept them guessing. No matter how you slice it, J. Michael Straczynski birthed a masterpiece of Science Fiction television. there are so many unanswered questions left from the end of the series and it's spinoff Excalibur that there's definitely room for a re-make of the series in some fashion. There's definitely a platform for a more detailed depiction of that universe out there, whether it's someplace like Netflix, Amazon, or even Hulu. If a remake of Babylon 5 is possible, I'd love to see it on one of those platforms.

2) Lexx

The series was kind of an acquired taste, but extremely creative in terms of storytelling and characters. There's also a real cult following for the show that would definitely lend support to a really effective remake if it were pursued. The characters were exotic, diverse, and quirky and the greater Lexx universe explored in the series was just plain weird (in a pretty good way). Two universes, a ship that's alive, and 20,000 planets in between, there are tons of ways the story of Lexx can be told. This is definitely a world that can be explored in a myriad of ways if it falls into the lap of a studio that will take on that challenge.

3) Space: Above and Beyond

Even though the show ran for one initial pilot season, the story arc left us with a cliffhanger that could literally be built in any direction if there was a project to revive the series. One of the things that really stands out about the show is how it departed from the whole cheery, positive, exploratory tone that most visions of future space colonization for humans have taken. The show content mirrored current events and social issues in a way that's still relevant today. Xenophobia, the military industrial complex, and a multitude of social and science ethics issues are covered in the subject matter. This made the original series pretty compelling television to watch. Exploring the outcome of the Earth/Chig war would be a natural progression for the show if it was picked up again by a studio.

4) Quantum Leap

This cult classic has re-make written all over it. Of course the charm that Scott Bakula and the rest of the cast brought to the show would be difficult to replicate, but just the overall theme of the show is remake friendly in general. Time travel has always held a lot of interest within the genre and Quantum Leap's popularity is a testament to that. The show's overall tone was particularly bright, with any potentially 'dark' topics and subject matter kinda downplayed a bit. Anyone that bites on taking this project on to remake could definitely go with a more dystopian feel for a different generation of audiences.

5) Caprica

Yeah, I know that Caprica itself was an original prequel to SyFy's Battlestar Galactia remake (which was pretty awesome in its own right), but it's a show that had so much potential that it's a no-brainer for rebirth on the small screen somewhere. The history of the 12 Colonies of Man in detail? Yep...sign me up. There are so many directions a studio could go with the show (like diving into the circumstances behind the first Human-Cylon War perhaps?). I mean, we've already seen short films and glimpses into that story arc, with a young William Adama featured in a BSG short that still gets a ton of burn on youtube:

Caprica is just begging to be re-booted, or at least to be re-started where the series left off. There was enough there to keep BSG diehards engaged in the direction of the show, while having the nuance to attract newer viewers to the battlestar galactica universe.

There are a ton of savvy and fresh takes on science fiction television out there for folks to consume during this COVID-19 sequester period. That being said, it would still be cool to see these five offerings resurrected from syndication purgatory for audiences to enjoy again.